Description

Last updated at 11:40, 2 Dec 2015Uploaded at 4:48, 21 Oct 2013

NOTE: This is a modder's resource. TEXTURES NOT INCLUDED !!! Instead of asking, "Where are the textures?", you can get textures off of my Seamless OCOv2 Heads or replace the headmeshes of OCOv2 with the ones included here. All you need to know is how to replace and rename files. Alternately, you can make your own seamless textures and share them with others.

Included Heads:All vanilla Bethesda heads that came with the base game.Classic and Famous Heads used in many custom race and quest mods.

DescriptionOblivion is a great game, but it has this great flaw -- the neckseams. It has been such an eyesore that people have resorted to necklaces, collars, and other concealers in order to hide it. The neckseam problem can only be solved by fixing the meshes and the textures. This mod provides the solution for head meshes. Another of my mods provides for the body meshes along with the clothes and armor. Technically, you can't improve the meshes any more than what's been done here. The following is a technical description of what's been done to solve the mesh component of the neckseams. If tl;dr, jump to the installation instructions.

1. EGT Files. What are EGTs? An EGT is a file that combines 50 textures to change the color and brightness of things like lips, eyebrows, cheeks, etc...

[example]4 of the 50 Textures

Changing the sliders in racemenu blends these textures in different proportions. The problem is that Oblivion came with differently colored EGTs for the head and body, which obviously leads to neckseams. More information on EGT files is here: "OFF-Optimized Facegen Files"

2. Vertex Normals, or to be more precise, the vertex normals at the neckseam. The head and body's vertex normals must line up exactly at the neckseam or you'll get a visible seam. More information on vertex normals can be found here: "Seamless Equipment"

3. Diffuse and Normal Textures. Duh... Obviously, the colors at the neckseam must match. You can download working textures for all races on the my Seamless OCOv2 Heads page.

So, what does this mod do? It solves two out the three above mentioned problems (#1 and #2). Working textures that solve #3 are here. In addition to the Vanilla Heads, "Classic Heads", which are used in many custom race and quest mods, have been included as part of my comprehensive heads "overhaul" project, which also includes all OCOv2 Heads (v2.03) and a selection of Head06 Heads.

[examples] As mentioned above, OCO and the heads in this mod share the same UV. Therefore, these examples are applicable.

Warning+Blockhead Bug: The latest version of Blockhead has a bug where your character's data doesn't update properly when you jump from one savegame to another. Fortunately, there's a simple solution. Whenever you see neckseams on your character or other weirdness like your male character having a female body, etc...

Make sure you're in 3rd person mode

Open the console by pressing the tilda '~' button

Type "player.update3d"

+NEVER EVER do this:

If you set your character's or NPC's age at -1000 (15), the game sometimes gets confused and returns a value less than 15. I've seen some NPC's age reported as low as 6.78. This means all the sex specific agemaps, such as headhumanM10_n.dds, get ignored and headhuman_n.dds gets used instead. Obviously, there can be only one headhuman_n.dds so either some males or females whose ages are set to -1000 (15) will get neckseams. Not even "player.update3d" will help in this case.

Installation InstructionsVanilla Heads1. Use NMM or Wrye Bash to install. Otherwise, manually copy the contents of the package into your Oblivion folder.2.If so desired, download and overwrite with the optional alternative EGT package. The alternative EGT package is only for humanoid races such as imperials, elves and orcs. The alternative EGT package uses colors closer to the ones found in the original vanilla game.3.Download and install the body, armor, and clothes requirements.

Classic HeadsBecause these heads are used all over the place in other mods, I've provided these as a modder's resource. The package is not in any Mod Organizer format such as BAIN, NMM or OBMM. The resources are presented as is.

1. The classic heads package only contains the bare minimum. That is only the nif, egt, egm, and tri files. Follow the links to find all the textures, esps, and other supporting files.

2. Install the original mods, then overwrite the head files with the ones found in this mod's packages.3. If so desired, download and overwrite with the optional alternative EGT package. The alternative EGT package is only for humanoid races such as imperials, elves and orcs. The alternative EGT package uses colors closer to the ones found in the original vanilla game and the original mods.4.Download and install the body, armor, and clothes requirements.